Cable Modem Termination Systems (CMTSs) play important roles in cable networks, delivering integrated data, telephony and video to subscribers over regional and last mile Hybrid Fiber-Coax (HFC) networks.
CMTS Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS) is a concern for network vendors, as failure or performance degradation of key components can entail both downtime for network subscribers, as well as costly service time to make repairs. The large number of cables that connect to a typical Line Card—the CMTS component with primary processing functionality—to provide upstream and downstream channels makes for a lengthy recabling process when the card needs to be serviced. Disconnecting and reconnecting so many cables is also prone to error, further increasing the time associated with CMTS maintenance.
Another costly maintenance area is the adjustment of upstream and downstream channel assignments, such as done for noise abatement or when configuring a replacement or backup Line Card. Previously, this has been manually performed at the physical site of the CMTS, placing further demands on service technicians to make time-consuming and error-prone adjustments to a CMTS.